Police in Hong Kong are urging mainland students to remain vigilant against scams, ahead of an upcoming peak for fraud activity targeting their money.

Most scams ensnaring mainland students in the SAR occur in the first or second week of the school year in September, the force added.

According to police data, there were 2,574 reports of phone scams in the first five months of this year, a nearly 20 percent jump from the same period last year.

But total financial losses fell sharply to approximately HK$430 million, down nearly 60 percent from HK$1.25 billion a year ago.

Among the victims, 49 were mainland university students who incurred losses of HK$44 million.

That’s compared to 89 students being duped out of HK$81 million between January and May of last year.

Chief Inspector Grace Wong from the Commercial Crime Bureau’s Anti-Deception Coordination Centre said that police promotional efforts have paid off, but it was crucial to maintain awareness.

She revealed one mainland student reported losses of over HK$10 million, after falling prey to phone scams over a three-month period. The victim only alerted police on July 10.

Aside from phone scams, many students were also subject to other deception tactics, the inspector added.

"Online shopping scams should cause some concern because the amount it caused might be small, tiny, but it's going to be a large sum of number because it's a regular habit that students or even most of the general public are doing online shopping," Wong said.

Another type of online scam targeted jobseekers.

"They're asking you to click, subscribe, like… or even put some products in your basket in some online shopping platforms, so you're going to gain some money from that, but it's actually a fake one because after that, they're gonna ask you to pay more into your account or to other people's account in order to gain some credits," she explained.

A welcome letter signed by the police commissioner with anti-fraud tips will be distributed to tertiary students and parents when the new school year begins, after the measure was proven to be effective in a limited trial last year.

Additionally, a video produced in collaboration with the SAR's Immigration Department and the National Anti-Fraud Centre is being shared on social media, and will be shown at arrival and departure halls on the mainland in the coming weeks.

It entails common scams, such as the impersonation of officials, housing rentals and intermediaries.